Lucy's Secret
by Samtastic 3.0
Summary: For the past few days, Lucy's been dealing with an embarrassing secret. She's so worried everyone will laugh at her, so she stays quiet, even though she knows she should talk to her parents about it. Will one unexpected sister be able to help our favorite Goth girl?
1. Chapter 1

**This is an idea I've tried to do before in a big way, and I do have a future idea for it. But for now, I thought I'd try to go smaller. It also gives me an excuse to use two sisters who I feel don't interact a lot, but are really good when they do.**

 **Enjoy this two-shot :)  
**

* * *

In the dark woods of Transylvania, a full moon rose over the foggy land. A castle sat upon a hill, giving the area a true "creepy" vibe. A young woman, no older than 18, walked up the path to the castle. Wearing a long black dress and black high heels, with her jet-black hair covering her eyes, the woman gave the true appearance of "dark".

"Edwin," She called out, "My love, I have returned for you. Rocky the Valliant has failed to woo me, and my father has finally stated I may marry whom I please."

At that moment, a vampire bat flew up to her, hovering around her a moment before transforming into a young man. He was dashing…at least to the young woman. He had jet black hair, pale white skin, and was wearing a nice suit. He smiled a dull smile at the young woman.

"Lucy, my dearly beloved, it is wonderful to see you again," Edwin said in a monotone voice, "As you can see, I am bursting with excitement and joy."

The two were silent for a moment, simply gazing at each other, before Edwin started leaning in. Lucy felt her heart flutter as she also leaned in. Nearly an eternity of betrayals, suitors, and many other things that got in their way, the two star-crossed lovers would finally be together.

As Lucy and Edwin kept leaning in, a slow flowing sound made itself heard. Lucy ignored it at first, continuing to lean forward. However, the flowing sound became as loud as a rushing river, and Lucy could no longer ignore it

"Nooo…" She whined in her monotone voice.

* * *

Lucy opened her eyes to see herself in her bed in her and Lynn's room. As her eyes slowly adjusted, she could tell it was still dark. Looking at the clock confirmed it was only 3AM.

As Lucy lay in her bed, she tried to ignore the feeling. Tried with all her might to imagine that the flowing river had been in her dream. But she couldn't. She could tell the second she woke up…that she was wet.

A tear rolled down the Goth's face. This was the TENTH TIME that she had wet the bed! Why, why was this happening? Of course, the first time it happened, Lucy suspected Luan had put her hand in a bowl of water, but the joker just so happened to be sleeping over at one of her comedy friend's houses. She suspected maybe Lynn, because the two of them had had an argument earlier that day, but the jock was still recovering from a broken ankle from field hockey; and while Lynn was an expert at moving around in sports, she was super clumsy when it came to dealing with injuries, so Lucy likely would have heard her is she stumbled around to get the bowl, fill it with water, and then try to place her hand in it.

Not knowing if it was a prank or a legitimate accident, Lucy simply balled up her sheets, slipped into a spare pair of pajamas, and headed down to the basement, where she tossed the offending sheets into the washing machine. She then headed back up to her room, where she used some cleaner and paper towels to wipe down her mattress. Lynn almost woke up at one point, and Lucy panicked, knowing her roommate would question the lack of sheets on her bed. At the last second, Lucy started humming a light tune, and Lynn drifted off again.

Luckily, Lucy made it through the night without anyone finding out; also, it was Saturday, so she didn't have to worry about the fact that she missed about an hour of sleep.

Figuring it was just a fluke, Lucy made sure not to drink anything after dinner, and used the bathroom right before she went to bed. It didn't help. For over a week this continued, and Lucy was beyond worried about her siblings finding out; this would be worse than the Princess Pony book.

Sighing lightly, Lucy slipped out of bed, changed her pajamas, and got to work balling up her sheets, starting at the corner by the door.

"Mmm…Luce?"

Lucy froze as she looked over to the other side of her room and saw Lynn raising her head, looking at her little sister through her half-closed eyes. "What are you doing?"

Lucy froze in terror. Not only could Lynn discover her secret, but their house's paper-thin walls would surely wake the rest of the family. She had to act fast. Then, she noticed her sister was clearly struggling to stay awake.

Lucy took a deep breath and whispered, "What do you mean? I'm not here."

Lynn looked at her, confused, "You're not?"

"No," Lucy shook her head, saying the first thing that came to her mind, "I'm on the Moon, training to become the king of Nebraska and cheese puffs."

"What?" Lynn asked, as she started rubbing her eyes. Thinking quickly, Lucy grabbed her wet pajama bottoms and held them behind her, making sure to hold them so one pant-leg was hanging off her side.

"Yes, Lynn," Lucy said, walking over to her sister, pausing just out of the window's moonlight, so that Lynn could barely see that she had three legs, "You remember: you won the skleep ball tournament with your team…" Lucy thought over the general sports celebrities she knew, "Consisting of Peyton Manning, Jeff Gordon, Babe Ruth, and Michael Jordon, your team won, and the winner got to choose one person to go to the moon to train to become the…" Lucy was tired and making this up on the spot, so she had already forgotten half of what she was saying, "King of something."

"King of something?" Lynn asked, her eyes drooping shut as she lay her head back down and turned to the side.

"Yesssss, kiiiiinnnnnggg of soooooooommmmmethiiiiiiinnnnnnnggg," Lucy said slowly, walking right in front of Lynn as she started swaying side to side, Lynn's eyes following her as they slowly closed. A second later, Lucy could hear some light snoring from her roommate.

Smiling, Lucy went back to her bed to get her sheets, only to pause. Double checking, she slowly opened her door and peeked out, looking to make sure that no one had woken up from her and Lynn's hushed conversation. Seeing the hallway empty, Lucy quickly balled up her sheets and hurried down to the basement.

After tossing her sheets and undies into the washing machine, Lucy hurried back to the first floor, where she grabbed some cleaning spray and paper towels from the kitchen. She then ran up the stairs and into her room, where she sprayed her mattress repeatedly. She let the spray set as she ran back downstairs, where she added fabric softener to the washer. Then back upstairs to wipe down her mattress.

40 minutes later, everything was done. Lucy retrieved her laundry from the dryer and headed back upstairs. As she exited the basement and made her way towards the stairs, she heard, "Hey, Lucy. What are you doing up?"

Lucy froze, looking to her left to see Leni sitting on the couch, looking rather tired.

"Um…what are YOU doing up?" Lucy asked, slowly setting her wad of done laundry down. Hopefully Leni didn't notice it.

"I just woke up to go to the bathroom, and was craving some milk," Leni said, holding up her glass, "What are you doing with your blankets?"

Lucy almost freaked out, before calming down at remembering this was Leni. "I had some chocolate milk in bed last night and accidentally spilled it. I was worried Mom would be mad, so I set my alarm to wake me up so I could wash them in the middle of the night before anyone found out." Lucy then quivered her lip a little, "You're not gonna tell Mom, are you, Leni?"

Leni smiled and got up to hug her little sister, "Of course not, Lucy. We're sisters, and sisters stick together. Now, you'd better get back to bed. We gotta get up for school in a couple hours."

Lucy nodded and picked up her bedsheets and headed up the stairs, her older sister right behind her. Leni offered to help Lucy make her bed, but she politely declined.

After getting her bed made, Lucy sighed; not her normal emotionless word sigh, but an actual tired sigh. She couldn't keep this up. Tonight there had been TWO close calls. And sadly, there was only one real permanent solution, and Lucy didn't even wanna THINK about that.

Crawling into bed, taking a moment to kiss her Edwin bust goodnight, Lucy figured MAYBE it was time to talk to her parents about this. Maybe.

* * *

Two hours later, Lucy awoke to the sound of her and Lynn's alarm. Of course, missing an hour of sleep in the middle of the night didn't do the 8-year-old any favors. She was honestly considering playing sick so she could stay home and sleep in. But she decided against it, remembering how messed up the house could get when one (or usually more) of them got sick.

Groaning, the Goth sat up, noticing her roommate was up and stretching her joints.

"Morning, Luce," Lynn tiredly said, as she tossed her blanket off and hopped out of bed, "How'd ya-?" Lynn paused, noticing she was standing on something. She looked down, and Lucy did the same…and her heart stopped.

The thing Lynn was standing on was Lucy's pajama bottoms. She froze as she remembered absentmindedly dropping them after using them to fool Lynn into thinking she was dreaming.

"Luce, why are your pajama bottoms on the floor?" Lynn asked, as she slowly reached down to pick them up.

"Ow!" Lucy cried, purposely slamming her hand against her bedframe. Lynn paused what she was doing when she heard her sister cry out. She raised her eyebrows in confusion as she walked over to Lucy and took her hand and started rubbing it between her own hands. "You need to be more careful, sis. When you stretch, whether it's actual workout or just waking up, ya need to make sure ya got room."

"Thanks, Lynn," Lynn said, taking her hand back and hopping out of bed, walking over and picking up her pajama pants, making sure to leave them in a ball to conceal the wet crotch, "And sorry about my pants being on your side of the room. My legs got hot in the middle of the night, so I took them off and tossed them aside."

"But…you're wearing pants now," Lynn pointing out, looking at the black pajama pants Lucy was currently wearing.

Lucy started lightly sweating as she mumbled, "Um…shortly after I took them off, my legs got cold, and I didn't wanna get out of bed to find them, so I just put my backups on."

"But…weren't your backup pair in the closet?" Lynn asked, still confused, "You had to have gotten out of bed to get them."

Now annoyed along with being worried, Lucy's eye twitched as she replied, "I had my backup pajamas under my pillow, for just this situation."

"You had your backup pajamas under your pillow, just in case you got hot and took off your pjs in the middle of the night, only to get cold later on?" Lynn asked, finding the idea rather ludicrous.

"Tell me, Lynn, when was the last time you played a sport without doing your dozen superstitious good luck routines beforehand?" Lucy deadpanned.

"Touché," Lynn said, shrugging as she headed out to get in line for the bathroom.

Lucy sighed in relief, having dodged a bullet yet again. She frowned as she walked over and put the pajama bottoms in her hamper (they had had a couple hours to dry, so she figured they'd be fine to put in the hamper for laundry day tomorrow); how could she have been so careless? Sure, it was late and she was tired, but she always made sure she had her blanket, sheet, pants, and…

"ALRIGHT!" Lori yelled from the hall, "WHO LEFT THEIR UNDIES ON THE STAIRS? REAL MATURE, LADIES!"

Lucy blushed deeply. Not only were they hers, but they were also…

"Hey, Luce," Lincoln opened her door quietly, "Um…there's a pair of Princess Pony panties on the stairs. Just thought I'd let ya know." Red-faced, her brother closed her door.

Lucy sighed again. They must have fallen out of the wad when she set it on the stairs to try (and fail) to hide it from Leni.

Was it too late to pretend to be sick?

* * *

Lucy sighed as she looked over the math assignment her teacher was discussing. How she wished she had friends in her class to whisper to. But alas, while she had many Goth friends throughout the school and town, none of them were in her grade. There were a couple in first, third, fourth, and fifth grade (her closest friend Haiku was in this grade with her brother, yet the opposite class), and a few in middle and high school, but none in second.

As her teacher droned on and on, Lucy felt herself getting tired. She loved the nightlife, but she knew very well that she was only 8, meaning she needed eight-to-nine hours of sleep a night, and these accidents were interrupting that. Several times in the last week, Lucy had come close to falling asleep in class. She was usually able to stay awake until lunch, when she would go to the library, eat her food, and then set her phone's alarm for 2 minutes before lunch ended, allowing her to take a 15-minute nap.

But today, as she listened to the times tables, Lucy felt herself drifting off. The teacher's voice was almost melodic. Lucy sat in the back of the class, so she figured it wouldn't hurt to rest her eyes for just a minute.

"3x3 is 9, 3x4 is 12, 3x5 is 15, 3x6 is 18…"

Lucy felt herself start to drift off as she pictured herself in a dark, yet peaceful meadow, with sheep jumping over a fence, the times tables on their sides instead of numbers.

3x7 is 21

3x8 is 24

3x9 is 27

3x10 is 30

3x11 is 33

3x12 is 36

As Lucy lay back on the soft grass, her head turned to the side to count the sheep, she felt at peace, more so than she had in the last couple of weeks.

Lucy wasn't sure how long she laid in the meadow, just that she got to 7x7 is 49 when a SLAP was heard, startling her awake.

Lucy jolted up with a yelp, looking around at all her giggling classmates, and her teacher standing in front of her, frowning down at her. She had slapped Lucy's desk, which was what woke her.

"Having a nice nap, Miss Loud?"

"Um…yes?" Lucy blushed sheepishly.

* * *

Lucy frowned. She was no super nerd like Lisa, always wanting to have a clean, spotless record. Yet even she was a little upset at being sent to the principal's office for the very first time. All 5 of her older sisters and Lincoln had each gotten detention at least once, as had Lola and Lana, but not her. And yet now here she was, getting ready to enter Principal Huggins' office, having to explain herself or risk staying an hour after school.

"Lucy Loud!" The secretary yelled out the door. Lucy sighed and walked into the front office, past the secretary's desk into Principal Huggins' office.

"Miss Loud," Huggins said, looking at her over the file he was reading, "Aside from your prodigy sister, each of your siblings has been sent to see me at least once in the decade I've worked for this school. I figured it was only a matter of time before you came here as well, especially considering your…life style." He gestured to Lucy's dark apparel before continuing, "Now, your teacher tells me you fell asleep in class. Normally that would warrant detention and a call home, but since this is your first offence, I can let it slide…" Lucy let out a sigh of relief. "So, no detention, but I still have to call your parents and inform them of this."

Lucy groaned. Of course she had gotten her hopes up for nothing. Well, there was one trick she had up her sleeve. She looked at Huggins with a quivering lip and clasped her hands together as she lamented, "Please, sir, do not inform my parents of this. They will be very sore at me. I promise it won't happen again. I just did not get enough sleep last night because…" Lucy paused, wondering what would be a half-decent excuse, "Well, it's personal, but important." It was a lame excuse, but Lucy was desperate.

"Lucy," Huggins sighed, "I'm an elementary school principal. Do you know how many times I've had kids, especially little girls, try to use the "sad face" routine on me? As for your reasoning, while I understand personal issues come up from time to time, that's no excuse for missing sleep. I'm sorry, but I have to call your parents."

"PLEASE!" Lucy jumped up onto his desk and clasped her hands together, her eyes peering through her hair as the tears started to fall, "I promise it won't happen again! I made a mistake, and I've learned my lesson. I'm begging you, sir. Just this once look the other way! I swear I won't have to come back here again. I know how to prevent what happened from happening again, so now I can get more sleep at night. Please!"

Huggins looks at the distraught child in front of him. Many times he had had similar scenarios play out before him, and many times he had always shot the kids down. But equally as many times, he could tell they were being genuine and would let them off the hook. And luckily for the little Goth girl, this was gonna be the latter.

"Fine," He sighed, before giving the girl a stern look, "However, whatever personal issue is disrupting your sleep, I would suggest you talk to your parents about it." He sighed again, "That's all, you may go."

"Thank you, Sir," Lucy sighed in relief as she exited the office. She was so relieved that she managed to get off scot-free. But sadly, she knew that to avoid this happening again, there was only one solution, and she REALLY didn't like it.

* * *

That night was chaos as usual in the Loud house, everyone excited for the start of the weekend. Lucy, however, kept to herself all night. At dinner, she ate only a little of her food, along with very little to drink. She was somewhat depressed by what she had to do later, and as such was lost in her own little world.

"Yo, Luce," Lynn tapped her shoulder, causing her to jump in shock. When she looked up, she saw everyone was looking at her.

"Yes?" She asked, embarrassed that her sporty sister of all people had managed to startle her.

"Um…" Dad cleared his throat, "I asked who wanted the last piece of my home-made cherry pie. Everyone looked at you when I asked, but you, uh, didn't seem to be paying attention."

"Is everything ok, Sweetie?" Rita asked, looking at her Gothic daughter in concern, "You've seemed a bit off these past few days."

"You dealing with bullies teasing you because you're a goth again?" Lynn cracked her knuckles, "Just tell me who they are, and I'll make sure they stop."

"No, I'm fine," Lucy mumbled, looking down, "May I please be excused?"

The rest of the family looked at each other in concern. While they were used to Lucy's normal lifestyle, even they had to admit the way she had been acting these past few days had been a bit much.

"Sure, kiddo," Lynn Sr. shrugged, "Ya sure you don't want the pie?"

"I'm good," Lucy said, pushing her plate aside and getting out of her seat, heading upstairs. When they heard her start to walk up the stairs, the family shared glances with each other.

"Is it me, or does Lucy seem a bit more down than usual?" Lincoln asked.

"No, I noticed it, too," Rita said, frowning.

"We all have," Luna said, "Anyone got any idea what's going on?"

"Did that vampire show she likes get cancelled?" Dad asked.

"No, it's still on," Lori spoke up, "The new season premiers in a couple of weeks." At that, she paused and let out a dreamy sigh, "And I can't wait. There's this new character that's going to be played by Blake Bradley." She and Leni squealed in excitement, only to pause when they saw the dull looks that the family was sending them. Blushing, Lori cleared her throat and mumbled, "So anyway, whatever she's sad about, it's not that."

"Lynn, you're her roommate, you notice what's GOTH her down?" Luan asked, causing everyone to groan.

"Well…" Lynn paused, "Ya know, I had the craziest dream about Lucy last night, but honestly, I'm entirely sure if it actually was a dream."

"What happened?" Rita asked curiously.

"Well, it started when I woke up…"

* * *

When Lucy got to the top of the stairs, she nervously looked over her shoulder. No one was following her, so she was in the clear. But she knew she had to act fast. She didn't want to get caught, and she also wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Tomorrow, she could head to the dollar store a couple blocks away and get what she needed long term, but for tonight, well, beggars couldn't be choosers.

Carefully tiptoeing to Lisa and Lily's room, Lucy quietly opened the door and made her way to Lily's changing table. Taking a deep breath, Lucy closed her eyes…and grabbed one of Lily's diapers. Part of her wished it was too small for her, but after 5 kids, Mom and Dad learned that their babies could FILL their diapers, and as such always bought a brand that could stretch pretty well without ripping.

Holding it to her chest, Lucy peeked out the door. Seeing the coast was clear, she hurried to her room and reluctantly put the diaper under her pillow. She then sat and her bed and let out a long moan. She knew that if she wanted to stop waking up every night, then she needed to stop having wet sheets. This meant that diapers at night would become a regular thing for her.

Tomorrow, she would say she was going to hang out with Haiku, when instead she would go to Pete's Dollar Store (the only place close enough that she could walk to). She had been with her siblings sometimes, and on one trip had been left to watch after Lily. Her baby sister toddled off to the baby aisle, and Lucy remembered that while she watched the little tyke play with some of the toys, she had seen they sold packs of diapers, including bedwetting ones, for ridiculously cheap; she could get a two-week pack for just 5 bucks. And everyone in town knew that Pete was an honest business man (unlike a certain owner of the local gas station), so Lucy knew they would be durable and leak-proof. Every 2 weeks, she would go there and buy a pack, while also swiping as many plastic bags as she could during check out. Each morning she would wait until after Lynn left the room to put the wet diaper in a plastic bag, which she would put in her backpack so she could flush it down the toilet when she got to school. And then she could repeat this every day for the rest of her childhood and probably teen years. Yeah, not a great plan, but a plan nonetheless.

Later on, as everyone started getting ready for bed, Lucy pondered over just how to do this. She could wait for Lynn go out in the hall to use the bathroom, before changing into her pajamas. But…she had to use the bathroom, too, and the diaper might crinkle, which her siblings might hear. Then again, she could just wait a few minutes for the line to die down, hurry and use the bathroom, then hurry back to her room and crawl in bed. Ok, easy peezy, lemon squeezy.

As soon as Lynn went to get in line for the bathroom, Lucy changed into her pajamas. The diaper felt so wrong, but she sighed and figured she could deal with it. Better than waking up in the middle of the night again. Heck, look what happened in the last day because of it: she almost got caught twice, and then she fell asleep in class. Clearly, wearing a diaper to bed was the lesser of two evils.

Lucy waited 20 minutes as she heard her brother and sisters get ready for bed. She sat on her coffin and read one of her Princess Pony books. She didn't really care if her siblings caught her with this; heck, a part of her wondered if the Pony book would be a good distraction in the future, in case any of her siblings came close to discovering her bedwetting.

Finally, Lucy heard everyone leave the bathroom and head to their rooms. She placed the comic back in her coffin as her roommate entered their room.

"Hey, Luce," Lynn greeted, stretching as she headed towards her bed, "Didn't see you in line out there."

"I figured I would wait until the rest of you had cleared out before taking my turn in the bathroom," Lucy said, as she headed for the door.

As she left, she was unaware of the frown her sister gave her. Lucy NEVER waited until last in the bathroom. She was usually one of the first ones there. Heck, Lynn couldn't remember the last time the two of them hadn't fought over the toothpaste.

"What's wrong with you, sis?" The sporty girl muttered, as she crawled under her covers and stared at the ceiling, deciding to think things over until sleep claimed her.

* * *

The next morning, after breakfast, everyone left to do their own thing, with Lucy telling her parents she was going to Haiku's house. She walked to the end of the block, before turning left instead of right. She got to PDS in about 10 minutes. As she walked in, she looked around, making sure no one she knew (other than Pete) was there. Luckily, other than a lady with her toddler, the store was empty.

Lucy crept over to the baby aisle, casually swiveling her head around, making sure no one saw her (she was aware if someone DID see her, they would probably think she was getting ready to shoplift). Finally, she got to her aisle, and looked over the displays of diapers. Obviously she needed size small, and preferably a brand specifically for bedwetting. After a moment, she saw them: _Goodnites: Nighttime underpants for growing kids_. They had 3 rows: boy, girl, neutral, in small, medium, and large. Looking them over, Lucy realized what differentiated them:

Boys' were blue, with 2 prints: Ace Savy and race cars.

Girls' were pink, also with 2 prints: Princess Pony and flowers.

Neutral were green with no print, obviously for the kids who had to wear them, but were past the age where prints on their undies mattered.

Lucy WANTED neutral, but the small and medium spaces were empty, and she knew large would be too big for her (and there was NO WAY she was gonna ask Pete to check in the back). She looked at the boy and girl packs and sighed. Of course she was _slightly_ drawn to the Princess Pony packs, but getting those felt like she was just…giving up.

"Sigh," Lucy muttered. Taking a step out to look around past the aisle, she saw that the store was still fairly deserted. She grabbed a small pack of Princess Pony Goodnites and made her way to the check lanes. There were 2 self-checkouts, and one manned one; of course, Lucy would be using the self-checkout. Lucy may have been a little short, but she had seen her parents use self-checkouts dozens of times, so she figured it would be a piece of cake.

Needless to say, the second she thought that, the doors opened, and Rocky Spokes walked in with his older brother Rusty. Lucy panicked and tossed the package out of site and quickly picked something out of the bargain bins.

"Hey, Lucy," Rocky said, walking over to her, "What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Rocky. I was on my way to Haiku's house to hang out for the day, but first I just had to stop here and pick up some…" Lucy glanced down at the item she blindly picked up, "Mexican Horseradish."

"Really?" Rocky looked at the bottle in his friend's hand, "Did Haiku want it for some recipe or something?"

"…yes," Lucy answered after a minute of silence.

At that moment, Rusty walked over to them, "Hey, Lucy. What's up?"

"Just doing some shopping," Lucy held up the bottle of Mexican Horseradish.

Rusty looked at the bottle curiously, "I thought that was recalled for making people go color-blind?"

"Um…" Lucy was nervous as the two looked at her, "I think that was _Jamaican_ Horseradish."

"Hmm…" Rusty thought for a moment, before shrugging, "I don't know, I just watch the news with my dad occasionally, and I thought I heard about some regular condiment trying to go "international" and going horribly wrong. Don't remember the exact details."

Lucy merely shrugged. The two thankfully bid her goodbye at that moment as they walked towards the toy aisle. Waiting until they were out of sight, Lucy tossed the bottle back where she got it before going and picking up her Goodnites. She quickly ran to the check lanes and purchased them, stuffing them in at least a dozen plastic bags before heading out of the store.

Lucy made it to the end of her block before she ran into Huck. Huck was the younger brother of those two hooligans who trashed their street this past Halloween, and he loved picking on smaller kids. He especially liked to pick on Lucy and her friends, due to them being "vampire freaks" as he called them. Lynn had had a "talk" with Huck a few weeks ago about him bullying her little sister, and he had thankfully stayed away from her since. But now, she was all alone.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little mistake," He smirked as he saw Lucy, who tried to make her way around him. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back, "Where do you think you're going? Back to your family that doesn't want you so you can cry to your sporty sister about someone telling you what you need to hear?" Huck may have been a third grade boy, but he was already getting skilled in physical, verbal, and mental bullying.

"Please leave me alone," Lucy begged, "I don't want any trouble." Fearing he may look in the bag(s), Lucy added, "I'm just picking up more diapers for my baby sister. She's feeling really sick."

"Awww," Huck sarcastically cooed, "Did you parents send you to pick up the diapers because they know your baby sister is scared of you? They probably figured she'd get better without you around."

Lucy frowned. She knew Huck was a loser and liked to pick on weaker kids to feel better about himself; even so, his words were getting to her. She jerked forward, pulling her shoulder out of his grasp as she continued home. Huck, of course, ran in front of her and blocked her path, glaring down at her.

"Ya know, after your sister got the drop on me a while back, people have started acting like I'm not a big deal, and that's got me pretty ticked," Huck snarled, glaring down at the Goth girl with venom in his eyes.

Lucy gulped and took a step back. She didn't wanna deal with this right now. Or ever, really, but it just so happened at the moment she had something with her that would make for great blackmail material. So, a butt kicking followed by being this meathead's servant? Yeah, definitely not something Lucy wanted to deal with.

Huck grabbed Lucy by the top of her head and pulled her so their faces were inches apart. Lucy cried out in pain as she dropped her bag. She also shuddered in disgust as she smelt his breath; clearly, it had been a few days since Huck last brushed his teeth.

"Now, I'm not gonna repeat myself: I'm going to hurt you very badly, and if you tell anyone, especially your jock sister, it'll be worse for you next time. Got it?"

Lucy whimpered as she nodded. Her eyes darted around, but she couldn't see anyone on the street or in any of the yards. She was at this jerk's mercy, and she resigned herself to the idea that maybe if she didn't fight back, this would be over quicker.

As Huck reared his fist back, ready to give her a black eye, he was suddenly knocked to the ground. In his shock, he let go of Lucy, who stumbled backwards. Looking up, Lucy saw who had saved her.

"Luan?" Lucy was surprised to see her comedian sister standing there, a cold look on her face as she looked down at Huck, who was starting to get to his feet. Lucy noticed Luan was in her clown getup, likely on her way to a party.

"Are you ok, Lucy?" Luan asked, not taking her eyes off the bully.

"I…I'm fine," Lucy said, reaching down and picking up her bag, "Thanks for the save."

"Don't mention it," Luan nodded, kicking Huck in the shin when he was fully standing, causing him to go down again, "I thought my sister Lynn already dealt with you, punk. Leave Lucy alone!" She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up, glaring at him like he had done to Lucy not 5 minutes ago. She barred her teeth at him and growled, before pushing him away, giving him a kick on the butt as he ran off, mumbling apologies.

As the two girls watched Huck run off, Luan turned to her little sister, "What are you doing here, Lucy? I thought Haiku's house is in the other direction from our house." Looking down, Luan saw the bags in Lucy's hand, "Did you go shopping?"

"Yes," Lucy nodded, suddenly remembering that she was holding her bag, "Haiku asked me to get something for her mother before I came over, so I stopped at Pete's Dollar Store. I was just on my way to her house now."

Luan frowned, "Lucy, you know Mom and Dad don't like us doing things like that. What if the store had gotten robbed while you were there? Mom and Dad wouldn't even know because you weren't supposed to be there."

Lucy sighed, "I know, I just figured it would be only a few minutes out of my way."

"Yeah, well look what almost happened," Luan placed her hands on her hips and looked at her little sister sternly, "I'd be more than willing to bet that you wouldn't have run into that thug if you had gone straight to Haiku's house."

Lucy frowned nervously, "You're not gonna tell Mom and Dad, are you?"

Luan stared at her sister's quivering lip and pleading face for a moment before sighing, "No, I won't. But please don't do this again. Anything could have happened to you and we wouldn't know about it. I don't even wanna think about what would have happened if I hadn't come along when I did." Luan pulled Lucy into a hug, before letting her go, "Now, go straight to Haiku's house, where you're SUPPOSED to be. No detours, got it?"

Lucy gratefully returned the hug as she thanked Luan, before hurrying off.

Luan sighed as she watched her sister go. She briefly wondered if Huck had anything to do with Lucy's recent spike in depression, before dismissing the idea. Huck was a jerk, just like his older brothers, but he knew better than to mess with one of Lynn Loud's siblings. At least, he usually did. He likely just happened upon Lucy alone and figured she would be an easy target. Whatever was bothering Lucy, Luan knew she had to help get to the bottom of it.

As the comedian turned and continued on her way, she briefly thought to the bag she had seen Lucy holding. Whatever was in it, she couldn't tell, because Lucy had clearly multi-bagged it. This realization caused Luan to pause, "Could it be…? Nah, Lucy would have talked to Mom about it, and Mom would have told us not to worry."

At that, Luan hurried to her party, figuring she would at least tell Lynn about this, so she could be on guard for Huck in case he decided to mess with Lucy again.

* * *

 **So, does Luan know what's bugging Lucy? Maybe.**

 **I was gonna use Lincoln, but let's be honest, between the actual show and the hundreds of fanfics out there, the poor boy suffers enough as it is, so I figured Lucy would be better suited for this story. Plus, it really plays up the fact that despite her being a loner Goth, she's still just a little girl.**

 **R &R**


	2. Chapter 2

Upon getting out of Luan's sight, Lucy ducked into some bushes and made her way back towards her street, making sure she could see Luan continue to her party.

Quickly hurrying down her street, Lucy finally saw her house come into view…and frowned as she heard the ruckus inside, clearly indicating that most of her family was still home. She sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. This would be tricky, but not impossible. All she had to do was get to the basement window, crawl inside, then use the vents to travel to her room.

Lucy carefully crept along the side of the house until she got to the basement's sole window. She went to open it…and grunted as she realized it was stuck. She spent a good 5 minutes trying to get it to open, before finally giving up.

Lucy shook her head. This was fine. Just go in the back door and get to the vent in the kitchen.

But of course that couldn't be done either, because Lola and Lana were hosting a Bluebell Scout meeting, and they were all currently in the kitchen getting snacks. Lucy's eye twitched in annoyance. WHY was it so hard to sneak into her room? On any other day she could do it with one hand tied behind her back. But because she was trying to hide her package of bedwetting diapers, OF COURSE life would do whatever it could to make sure her siblings would find out.

Taking a moment to let out a low groan, Lucy briefly wondered if she could get Lincoln's attention from his room and have him activate that inflatable slide so she could climb up. After all, Lincoln was the most trustworthy person in the house, at least in Lucy's opinion. But sadly, just as quickly as that thought had entered her head, it left, as she remembered Lincoln mentioning that Gus' Games n Grub was having a video game tournament, and he and Clyde were gonna be there all day.

Sighing, Lucy figured her best bet now was just to walk in the front door and head straight up to her room. Her siblings USUALLY paid her little mind, so hopefully she could use that to her advantage this once.

Picking up her bag, Lucy causally made her way to the front door. She pressed her ear up against it and heard light talking. She could tell it was Leni and Lori, likely gossiping. Lucy took a deep breath and opened the door, trying to be quiet while making it look like normal. She stepped inside and closed the door and started for the stairs…

"Hey, Luce," Lori spoke up, not even looking up from her phone, "I thought you were at a friend's house.

Lucy mentally cursed. Of course, the one time she needed to go unnoticed, suddenly she had a bright red target on her back.

"Haiku got sick, so I had to come home," Lucy said, only after the words left her mouth did she realize exactly what she said. Her sisters looked at her with wide eyes, and Lucy quickly added, "Her mom made a bad batch of cookies, so she and her sister both got food poisoning. Threw up all over their living room. I had to leave because the vomit smell was making me sick- er, nauseous, too."

Thankfully this calmed her sisters as they each released the deep breaths they had been holding in.

"Sorry to hear that, Luce," Lori sighed, as she went back to her phone.

"Yeah, I totes hope they get better," Leni said sympathetically.

"Thanks," Lucy nodded, as she turned back to the stairs…

"What's in the bag?" Lori asked, again not looking up from her phone.

"Nothing!" Lucy exclaimed, perhaps a little too quickly and loudly, as both her oldest sisters, as well as Lola and Lana in the dining room, looked at her in confusion. "I mean, it's…stuff for making fake blood. I just gotta sneak it in because you know how Mom feels about my fake blood staining everything."

"Uh huh…" Lori nodded, looking at Leni with a raised eyebrow, "Ok then." She shrugged before going back to her phone, the rest of the sisters also going back to their own thing. Lucy wasn't gonna take any more chances as she ran up the stairs, actually creating a large racket as she did so.

"WHO'S RUNNING UP THE STAIRS?" Rita yelled from her room.

As they heard Lucy slam her door shut, Lori looked at Leni, "Ok, I think it goes without saying that that was weird."

"Yeah, totes," Leni nodded, "Do you think Lucy's weird behavior has something to do with whatever's bothering her?"

"Obviously," Lola said, walking into the living room, "I know we talked over some ideas last night, but I really think we should just confront her, get her to tell us whatever's bothering her so we can help."

"But that might make her defensive," Lana said, as she stood next to her twin, "And she might close herself off even more. I mean, Lucy's always been the quietest of us all. Heck, I'm surprised her last name is even 'Loud' considering she hardly ever is."

"Look," Lori sighed, "We'll see how long this goes on. If we need to, we'll confront her. But for now, let's try Plan A."

The others nodded, the twins going back to join their troop, and the older girls going back to their phones.

* * *

Lucy sighed as she slipped the package of Goodnites under her bed. This had truly been one of the most stressful days of her life. And looking at her phone, she saw it had only been just over an hour. Thinking it over, she realized she was so exhausted, that she wanted to take a little nap.

"Not long," She muttered, "Just half-an-hour at most." Lucy first headed out to the hall. She figured if she used the bathroom now, she wouldn't have to worry about anything happening during her nap.

As Lucy made her way to the bathroom, she heard, "Hey, Luce!" She turned and saw Lincoln and Lynn making their way towards her.

"Hi, guys," Lucy stated in her usual monotone voice, "What's up?"

"We were wondering if you wanted to hang out?" Lincoln asked, "Been a while since the three of us have done something together."

"That sounds nice," Lucy nodded, "But I'm actually kind of tired right now. I was thinking of taking a nap."

"A nap?!" Lynn cried in shock, "We're Louds, Lucy! We don't take NAPS! Especially not on a SATURDAY!" She grabbed her younger sister by her wrist and pulled her downstairs, Lincoln following behind.

As they hurried down the stairs, Lucy looked behind her at her brother, "Lincoln, I thought you were gonna be at Gus' all day?"

"Oh," Lincoln causally shrugged, "When Clyde and I got to the arcade, it was packed for the tournament, so we just decided to come home. Clyde's hanging with his dads, so I thought I could hang with you guys for the day."

"Beat it," Lynn casually said to her older sisters as the trio entered the living room, "We need the TV."

To Lucy's surprise, Lori and Leni didn't argue or appear annoyed that their younger sister was giving them an order. They merely nodded and headed up to their room. Lucy could have sworn she saw Lori wink at Lynn, but she brushed the thought off.

"So, Luce," Lynn smiled, as she hopped up on the couch, dragging her sister with her, "We figured we'd watch a movie. And since the sequel's FINALLY coming out in a few months, what better movie to watch than _The Incredibles_?"

"It's probably my favorite PIXAR movie," Lincoln casually said, as he put the movie into the DVD player, "All about a broken family coming together to fight their inner demons…in super hero form."

"My favorite part is when Syndrome has them all captured, and Bob finally tells his family what's on his mind," Lynn said, as the movie started up, "It's a really sweet moment, showing how even the strongest of us need to let people in at times."

"And it's great that the moment continues when they get ready to fight the Omnidroid," Lincoln said, "When he adds in his fear of losing them. Really, one has to wonder how a movie about superheroes can also portray family love so well." At that, Lincoln wrapped an arm around his little sister as he pulled her close.

"I like Violet," Lucy spoke up after a minute, "She sees the world for how it really is: a dark depressing place where even the people who love us the most will let us down."

Lincoln and Lynn frowned at that, but said nothing. As the movie continued, Lincoln finally said, "But her journey through the movie is great, with her embracing her powers and letting her true self shine."

" _The Incredibles_ has many clichés," Lucy countered, "But the ending where the popular boy nervously asks Violet out is the worst of them all. So cliché and unrealistic. In real life, he would hit on her, call her "babe" even though they don't actually know each other, and she would wisely turn him down. And as we've seen in the newest trailer for the second film, it clearly doesn't work out, what with her going back to her "shrinking violet" phase and trying to destroy her suit."

Lynn and Lincoln shot each other a nervous look as the film played. Clearly their hinting wasn't working.

"Well," Lincoln tried to figure out what to say, "Nothing WRONG with being a shrinking violet, just so long as you know there are people that love you and want to help."

"Yeah," Lynn said, giving her sister a playful noogie, "We all have bad days and need some time to ourselves every once in a while, no biggie."

"True," Lucy said, brushing her sister's hand away, "But sometimes embracing the darkness is the best way to get through life. If you don't expect anything from people, they can't let you down."

"But if you aren't let down, then why feel blue?" Lynn asked.

"Because the world is a lousy place in general," Lucy sighed, "Heck, watching this movie with you 2 is probably the best I've felt in weeks, if for no other reason than I'm spending time with my closest siblings."

Lynn and Lincoln frowned at each other, before Lynn sighed and nodded at her brother. Lincoln looked at Lucy and asked, "Lucy, if something was bothering you, you'd tell us, right?"

"Of course," Lucy nodded, not taking her eyes off the TV, "But like I said at dinner last night, I'm fine."

The two older siblings again shared a frown, not sure what else to do. Obviously pushing further on the matter would most likely result in Lucy going back up to her room and closing herself off from everyone.

With no other options, the trio silently watched the movie, Lynn and Lincoln watching their little sister the whole while.

* * *

Believe it or not, Lucy's plan actually worked for the next week. She didn't wake up in the middle of the night again, and each morning she was able to put her wet Goodnite in a plastic bag, which she put in her backpack. Upon getting to school, she immediately went to the bathroom, where her secret shame was flushed down the toilet (and the plastic bag was merely thrown away). The following weekend, she merely put the three Goodnites from the weekend nights into one bag, which she took care of on Monday.

All in all, Lucy actually started to feel slightly better. Sure, like any kid she was majorly embarrassed at having to wear diapers at night, but it was still better than repeatedly waking up to wet sheets and having to secretly wash them.

Her family noticed Lucy appeared to be feeling better, but they were still concerned for her. Lynn, being her roommate, tried to get closer to her, but Lucy mainly stayed to herself. At the very least, she was a little more talkative at dinner each night.

All was well until Tuesday at lunch. Lucy's friends were glad that she was eating with them again. As they ate, Haiku spoke up, "Everyone, my mother is going out of town this weekend, so she said me and my sister may have that big group sleepover we have been talking about, and you are all invited. Bring the usual sleepover necessities: sleeping bag, pajamas, change of clothes, and toothbrush. We will have pizza at night, and Maggie is taking a cooking class, so she will make breakfast for us in the morning."

The group looked at each other and gave light smiles, each saying they would be there. Except for Lucy.

"I'm sorry, Haiku, but I can't make it."

Haiku frowned, "Why not?"

Lucy paused, as she realized she didn't have a reason she could SAY, and just saying she wasn't interested would be rude. "Er…I'm grounded."

" _You_ got grounded, Lucy?" One of the kids at the table spoke up, "How?"

"Um…" Lucy paused. What was a realistic excuse she could say? What was something casually bad she could say she did, that wouldn't seem out of place for her? "I…got mad after my mom swatted a broom at Fangs, so I called her a stupid idiot. So I'm grounded for a week."

"Sigh," Haiku muttered, "Lucy, even though people like our parents can infuriate us with their naivety towards our lifestyle, we must maintain our emotionless detachment, lest we seem like the "popular" people who see themselves as superior."

"Right," Lucy nodded, sighing, "I'm sorry, guys. I hope you have an enjoyable night, and hopefully I can make it next time."

The others nodded, and that was that. Or so Lucy thought.

* * *

It was Thursday night after dinner, and the family was sitting in the living room together. The TV was on, but only a couple of them were watching it. Luan's phone buzzed, so she stepped into the kitchen to answer it.

As the family watched their show, Luan came back in. "Hey, Mom, Dad? Is it ok if I go to my friend Maggie's house for a sleepover tomorrow?"

"Sure, Honey," Rita nodded, before pausing as she thought, "Which one is Maggie again?"

"She's one of Lucy's older friends," Luan said, "She and I became friends after I performed at her birthday party, and she said she really liked my act. After that, we just drifted towards each other, despite our drastically different lifestyles."

"Oh, ok," Rita shrugged, "Just so long as you're on your best behavior."

"Thanks, Mom," Luan nodded, before turning to her siblings, "By the way, Lucy, why are you grounded?"

Everyone stopped what they were doing as they looked at the 8-year-old in surprise. Lucy looked up from her poetry book and silently cursed. How could she forget that Luan and Maggie were friends? So of course there was a chance that Haiku would bring up Lucy's "grounding" to Maggie, who would bring it up to Luan. It was a slim chance, but a chance, nonetheless; and clearly, said chance had happened.

"You're grounded, Sweetie?" Rita asked, before turning to her husband, "What did she do, Lynn?"

"I don't know, I was gonna ask you," Lynn Sr. replied, looking just as confused.

Lucy started to panic. If her parents revealed she wasn't grounded, then she'd have to explain why she lied to Haiku, and that would inevitably lead to her family discovering her secret. As Lucy tried to figure out a way out of this, she stopped. She was Lucy LOUD. This was the LOUD house.

"Wait," Lucy said, looking at her parents irritably, "You're saying I'm NOT grounded?"

"Um…" Lynn shared a look with his wife, before replying, "Not that you're mother or I are aware of, Sweetie."

"Ugh!" Lucy snapped, throwing her poetry book on the floor, "I would LOVE to go to Haiku's for that sleepover, but I told her I'm grounded. And now I find out I'm NOT?!" She pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a sigh before looking right at her parents, "Mom, Dad, I know we've recently been saying we need to work on ourselves as a family, try to be better and all that, but I just gotta say that goes DOUBLE for you. I don't mean to be rude, but you both REALLY need to work on your communication skills!"

"We're…we're sorry, Lucy," Rita said, looking rather embarrassed, "We didn't mean to make you think you're grounded."

"Yeah, you can totally go to Haiku's sleepover tomorrow," Lynn nodded.

Lucy let out a sigh, "But I already told her no, and I don't wanna be rude and tell her yes at the last minute. Nothing I can do now." She looked down and groaned. Her siblings all looked at her with sympathy.

"Actually," Luan, who was behind the couch, pulled up her hand, reveling that she was still using her cell phone, "I'm still on with Maggie. When she said Haiku is upset that you can't make it, I told her to wait while I try to talk to Mom and Dad."

"And I'm on speaker with Haiku," Maggie's voice came over the phone.

"Lucy, I do not find it the least bit rude that you are changing your answer last minute," Haiku spoke up, "I will see you tomorrow at school, and we can all just go to my house afterwards."

"Cool," Luan nodded, as she finished up the call.

As everyone slowly went back to their own thing, Lincoln, who was sitting next to Lucy, smiled at her, "Wow, that was a lucky break, huh, Luce? Hope you have fun tomorrow."

"Thank you, Lincoln," Lucy forced a smile as she bent down and picked up her poetry book, "It was a lucky break, indeed."

* * *

The next day, Lucy stood in front of school, waiting for her friends. She had her backpack, which contained not only her school books, but also her pajamas, change of clothes, toothbrush, and Goodnite (she was holding her sleeping bag). As she waited for her friends to exit the school, she briefly thought of faking being sick to her stomach, so she could go home. She knew her friends were good people who didn't care about trivial things, but still, just the thought that one of them could accidentally discover her secret terrified her.

Honestly, Lucy knew she should talk with her parents about this so they could take her to a doctor to see what was wrong. Heck, what if it was something serious, like a bladder infection? And she was putting off finding out just because she was embarrassed? Not a very smart thing to do.

"Hello, Lucy."

Lucy jumped nearly three feet in the air. She turned to see Haiku standing behind her, smirking. Haiku had always come close to spooking Lucy, but this was the first time she actually succeeded.

"Hello, Haiku. How are you?" Lucy asked, as she waited for her heart to stop beating a million beats per second. Was this what she put her siblings through on a daily basis? Now she realized how scary it was.

"I'm overjoyed, as you can clearly see," Haiku said, in her usual monotone voice and disinterested look on her face, "I have been wanting to do this sleepover for quite some time, yet my mother has always been too busy to help prepare it."

"Well, I'm glad to be coming," Lucy said, giving a small smile. It was true. Despite her concerns over her secret being discovered, as well as her usual dark outlook on life, she really did enjoy spending time with her friends. "What all are we gonna do?"

"Well, like I said, we're ordering pizza for dinner," Haiku began, "Then, we'll watch a scary movie. Maggie managed to get her hands on a copy of the original _Night of the Living Dead_. Afterwards, we're gonna stay up late and do some things our parents would NOT want us doing. Dez is bringing over her older brother's Ouija Board, and Monica is bringing a book on seances and occult practices."

"Wicked," Lucy smiled, feeling slightly better at hearing of the night's plans.

At that moment, the three remaining females in their group, Dez, Monica, and Felecia, exited the school, each carrying their own sleeping bags. They made their way to Haiku's house, where Maggie and her friends, Luan and three other girls, were already waiting. Of course, everyone was thinking to themselves that Luan was the odd girl out, but Maggie insisted Luan was cool enough to hang with them. Luan assured everyone that she would respect them and not try to make the night all happy and cheerful.

"Don't worry, girls, I've _mort-itchin_ for a good time tonight," Luan quipped. Lucy groaned, while everyone else merely stared at Luan as if to ask, "Really?"

All in all, the night was fun. They ordered 5 pizzas, which were eaten while watching the movie. Luan, of course, was the only one who was really scared.

Afterwards, they hung out, with a few of them doing the Ouija Board (during which Luan had to joke, "Gee, hope we don't get any pranking ghosts who like to give _O-wedgies_.") While they were hanging out, they kept refilling their cups with the sodas Maggie had managed to score, a dozen bottles all in all.

Lucy was currently on the couch, watching some of the girls mess with the Ouija Board as she sipped on her soda. A look at the clock showed it was 1 in the morning. Luan took a seat by her sister.

"Uh, Lucy, isn't that, like, your fifth refill?" Luan asked, the protective side of her showing through.

"Sixth," Lucy replied, as she set her cup on the coffee table, "It's pretty cool. Mom never lets us have this much caffeine or stay up this late."

"For good reason," Luan pointed out, "Lucy, you're only 8. I think you should cut back on the soda and try to relax. I'd like for you to get to sleep within the next hour."

Lucy frowned. She was well-aware that she was the youngest one there, and so far no one had said anything about it (Maggie had been a little uneasy about the movie she had gotten, but she said that it was because of the "younger girls", not just Lucy). "Look," She sighed, "I'm not sure if you've noticed lately, but I've been feeling a little…not myself, and I wanna take this night to relax, not think about my troubles. I can sleep in late today, and then I can do stuff with Lynn to wear myself out. If I need to, I'll set an alarm for tomorrow, so I wake up early and thus feel like going to bed early, so I can get a full-night's sleep for school on Monday. No biggie." At that, Lucy picked up her cup and took another sip of her soda.

Luan frowned. At least she had finally gotten a confirmation that something was wrong with her little sister. But the look on Lucy's face said she was done with the conversation. Luan sighed and got up, figuring she'd at least get ready for bed herself.

Lucy sighed as she watched her sister go. Even if she and Luan weren't the closest in the house, it would still be nice to talk to SOMEONE about her troubles. But clearly this wasn't the time or place. At that moment, Lucy decided she would ask Mom to talk when they got home tomorrow…or today…basically after they woke up and headed home.

That was the last thing Lucy really remembered, before the night became hazy due to all the caffeine she had. Bits and pieces were still there, such as Maggie punching one of her friends for saying she had feelings for Luan ("She's just a really good friend, is all!") and Dez puking in one of the potted plants (due to having eaten a whole pizza, two bags of chips, and a dozen cookies), but all in all, talking with Luan was the last thing Lucy fully remembered.

* * *

GGGGGGGGGRRRRRRMMMMMMMMM!

"UGH!" Maggie yelled, "Why is Mr. Johnson ALWAYS mowing his lawn so dang early!"

"Um, Maggie, it's 12:30."

"Well, we're teens that stayed up way too late and had too much junk food! He should be more considerate!"

"There's no way he could have known that."

"But still!"

Lucy's eyes slowly opened as she heard everyone start to get up. Looking around, she saw she had fallen asleep on the couch. She saw her friends sprawled out on the floor around her, most in their sleeping bags.

As Lucy shifted to try and stand up…she froze. She was wet. She had been so hopped up on sugar that she fell asleep before she could put her Goodnite on! And what's worse, the couch was a tan color, so the wet spot was very obvious, and Lucy didn't have a blanket or anything to cover herself with. She was frozen in fear as everyone started to stand up.

Lucy tried to lay over the spot (as she still had her black dress on, meaning the spot wasn't too noticeable on her), but Haiku, who was right by the couch, winced as she sniffed. "Ugh, what smells like urine?"

Slowly, everyone turned their heads to the two girls, and noticed the wet spot on the couch underneath Lucy.

Time seemed to freeze as no one said anything. Lucy swore she could hear her heartbeat in her ears. As the snickers slowly started and Lucy felt the tears start to flow…Luan burst out laughing.

"Gee, Lucy, I gotta _hand_ it to ya. _Water_ you gonna do now, since we're all about to _bowl_ over laughing?" Luan clutched her stomach and doubled over, laughing really hard.

In fact, as Lucy noted, Luan seemed to be laughing too hard. Almost like she was _making_ herself laugh. Lucy's eyes went wide as she realized what her sister was doing.

"Luan!" Maggie gasped, "Are you saying you put your sister's hand in a bowl of water after she fell asleep last night?"

"N…no!" Luan laughed out, "I'm not saying that at all!" It was hard for Luan to talk, with all the laughing she was doing.

"DAMN IT, LOUD!" Maggie snapped, her eye twitching, "Haiku and I promised our mom the house would be spotless when she got back!" Glaring at her friend, Maggie stomped over to the couch, taking a few breaths before placing a hand on Lucy's shoulder, "Ya know where the bathroom is, right?" Lucy nodded. "Ok, go take a shower and change your clothes. I'll get you a plastic bag for the stuff you're wearing now. And hey," She smiled sweetly, "Don't worry, I'm not mad at you, it's not your fault." She turned and glared over her shoulder at the still laughing comedian, "It's your idiot sister's fault!"

Lucy nodded again as she slowly got up and walked to her backpack, picking it up and making her way to the bathroom. As she did, she heard Maggie mutter, "Gonna kill that girl, Mom is gonna be furious."

Lucy entered the bathroom in somewhat of a daze. She didn't even think about it as she turned the shower on and started to strip. All she could think about was, 'Luan is the greatest.'

* * *

An hour later, after a big breakfast of Monkey Bread and fruit, everyone headed home, a couple getting picked up by parents, the rest walking. Luan and Lucy were a couple of the ones who chose to walk. As they headed home (with Maggie telling Luan she was banned from ever returning), Lucy suddenly hugged her older sister.

"Thank you so much, Luan!" She stated, actually showing emotion as she lightly sobbed, "That would have been so embarrassing if you hadn't done what you did!" Lucy now let the tears flow freely as she clung to her sister.

Luan gently guided her little sister to a nearby tree, where they sat as Lucy cried until she was out of tears. During this, she explained what had been going on.

"…and then I just fell asleep last night before I could change into my pajamas. When I woke up, I thought it was all over," Lucy finished, wiping her eyes.

"I remember feeling the same way," Luan said, a casual tone in her voice.

Lucy froze as she looked up at her sister, who smiled down at her, "I was 7 when the accidents started. I was so embarrassed. Like you, I thought at first it was a one-time fluke. But then, as it started happening more and more, I realized I had a problem. While we've sorta drifted apart over the years, back then, Luna was my absolute best friend, so of course she figured out something was wrong with me by the way I was acting. She confronted me, and I broke down bawling as I told her what was going on. She may have only been 8, but even she knew I should go to the doctor. She took me to Mom, who explained everything to me."

"Everything?" Lucy asked, confused.

"I explained to your sister that the females in my side of the family have had a long history of incontinence." Both girls looked up to see their mother standing in front of them.

Lucy looked to Luan, who smiled sheepishly, "After Maggie was done cussing me out, I called Mom and told her what happened. I told her I'd text her when we were leaving, and that there was a slim chance we might not make it all the way home. So I gave her Maggie's address and, well, here we are."

Rita sat down next to her daughters and pulled Lucy into her lap. Despite it being a childish action, Lucy did not struggle and instead hugged her mother. Rita continued, "I was in diapers at night until my freshman year of college. It was embarrassing as hell, but I reluctantly accepted it. Pop-Pop explained that for generations, the women in his family have had weak bladders. In fact, he said his aunt had to wear protective undergarments 24/7. But he said that that was the worst case. Neither your sister or myself have ever had to wear them during the day."

"And the others?" Lucy asked curiously.

"It may be genetic, but while that means _anyone_ can get it, not _everyone_ is gonna have to deal with it," Rita shrugged, "And as far as I know, Lori, Leni, Luna, and Lynn are all good. Of course, it'll probably be another year or 2 before it would surface in the twins, and obviously even longer for Lisa and Lily. But so far, you and Luan are the only ones who are affected by it."

"So that means…" Lucy turned to Luan, who reached into her own backpack and pulled up a plastic bag, clearly wrapped around something pink. She shrugged, and Lucy sighed, this time in relief, "I'm sorry, Mom. I was just so embarrassed about this that I didn't say anything. I should have known I could come to you."

"It's ok, Sweetie," Rita said, wrapping her arms around her daughter, "I'm just relieved this is it. We've all been worried about you, lately."

"Really?" Lucy asked, "I figured everyone would just see the way I've been acting as normal."

"Luce, we may tend to overlook you most of the time," Luan frowned, feeling guilty, "But we're a family. We can totally tell when one of us is dealing with something. And I'm a bit ashamed to admit I thought it might be bedwetting, but I didn't say anything."

"Wait, how could you have guessed what it was?" Lucy asked, surprised, "I mean, I get you deal with it, but I'm always somewhat down."

"Well, I'll admit at first I just thought maybe someone was picking on you, or that Rocky didn't wanna be your friend anymore," Luan said, "But then, that Friday at dinner, after you left, Lynn told us about her "dream" where you had three legs and were training to be king of something. Then when she said she found your pajama bottoms on the floor after you had changed out of them, that really made me think. And then of course, running into you the next day when you had been shopping and had multi-bagged whatever you had bought, that's when I really started to think it was bedwetting. But I figured you would have talked to Mom or Dad, so I shrugged it off. But then came the grounding thing, and I was 99% certain what it was. That was why I was trying to get you to go to bed early last night, cuz I had a feeling you would fall asleep before you could change into your pajamas."

Lucy sighed again as Rita stood up, actually carrying her. Luan picked up her sister's backpack and followed along. "So, I don't have to go to the doctor?"

"Technically you shouldn't," Rita said, "Though honestly I would like to set up an appointment, just to be safe." Lucy merely nodded at this, gently laying her head into her mother's shoulder. For the first time in almost a month, Lucy actually felt at peace. Yes, she still had an embarrassing secret that wasn't gonna stop anytime soon, but it was just a relief to get it out in the open.

As their house came into view, Rita sat Lucy down, allowing her to walk the rest of the way, albeit while holding her mother's hand.

"Luce," Luan spoke up, getting her sister's attention, "I don't know if I would have gotten through this without Luna's help. I think you should have someone to confide in. Of course, me and Mom will be here for you, but maybe tell someone else that you're close to. Just a thought."

Lucy merely nodded at this, as the trio returned home.

* * *

That night after dinner, when most of the family went off to do their own thing, Lucy asked Lynn and Lincoln to join her in her room. When they were both seated on Lynn's bed, Lucy confirmed that something was wrong with her.

"What is it, Luce?" Lincoln asked, sharing a wary look with Lynn, "You know whatever it is, we'll be here for you, right?"

Lucy nodded, and sighed as she explained that Lynn's weird dream was in fact not a dream, but Lucy manipulating her to fall asleep so she wouldn't discover Lucy changing her sheets. Lucy then took a deep breath as she outright stated, "I have a bedwetting problem."

No one said anything for a moment, and Lucy was growing slightly worried as she expected her siblings to burst out laughing. However, both got up and hugged her.

"You secret's safe with us, sis," Lincoln said, rubbing Lucy's back.

"And you know we're not gonna laugh at you for something you can't control," Lynn added.

Lucy felt tears welling up in her eyes, but this time they were tears of joy as she wrapped and arm around both of her siblings and thanked them repeatedly.

The three stayed like that for some time, Lucy lightly crying, happy to be able to tell her two closest siblings what was wrong with her without them laughing at her, and the 2 of them happy that their little sister had finally confided in them about what was troubling her.

* * *

A couple hours later, as everyone was getting ready for bed, Lucy told Lynn goodnight before stepping out of their room and walking next door to Luan and Luna's room. She lightly knocked on the door.

"Hey, little dudette, what's up?" Luna asked from her bunk.

"I wanted to come talk to Luan," Lucy explained, "I need to thank her for something."

"I think she's in the bathroom," Luna shrugged, "Should just be another minute."

"Ok," Lucy nodded, taking a seat on Luan's bunk.

It was quiet for a moment, before Luna spoke up, "So, this thing you wanna thank her for, does it have to do with what's been messing with you lately?"

"Yes," Lucy replied, hoping her sister wouldn't ask any more questions.

"Hmm…" Luna hummed, "Does this thing happen to be genetic?"

Lucy paused, as she looked up at her rocker sister, who merely smirked at her, before making a 'zipping shut and locking" motion over her lips. Lucy offered a small smile, and Luna winked at her before laying down.

Lucy lightly chuckled. Of course Luna would figure it out. But hey, no biggie there. After all, she's clearly kept Luan's secret all these years (even though it would have been perfect ammunition/blackmail during April Fool's), so obviously Lucy didn't have to worry, either.

At that moment, the toilet flushed, and a few seconds later, Luan stepped into her room, smiling when she saw Lucy, "Hey, Luce, what's up?"

Lucy said nothing at first, as she merely walked over and wrapped her sister in a hug. Luan simply smiled as she returned said hug.

"Thank you for helping me out, Luan," Lucy finally said, smiling up at her sister, "I really owe you one."

"Don't mention it, Lucy," Luan smiled, gently brushing Lucy's hair out of her face, though Lucy stopped her before her eyes were visible. Luan merely chuckled as she tussled her sister's head, before pulling away from the hug and going to her bed. As she lay down, she turned back to her sister, "By the way, Mom got Lisa to make me a special trashcan for my wet pull-ups, one that has a mini-disintegrator in it. Totally safe, and you're free to use it as well. That way you don't have to keep hiding them every morning."

"Thanks, Luan," Lucy smiled. Despite being careful in the morning and at school, Lucy did have a worry someone would find her secret shame. But now she clearly didn't have to sweat that.

As Lucy turned to go back to her room, Luan turned off the light and asked, "Hey, sis, ya wanna sleep with me tonight? Us bedwetters gotta stick together, after all."

Despite what Luan said being more sincere than funny, Lucy chuckled as she climbed into the bottom bunk next to Luan, who wrapped her arms around her little sister. The two slept peacefully that night, and it was the best sleep Lucy had had in weeks.

* * *

 **There ya go. Hope this wasn't too sappy. Like I said, I've tried to use bedwetting in stories before, but it never really fit into the storylines. I do have an idea I think could work in a story I'm currently planning, so hopefully that'll work out.**

 **Anyway, R &R.**


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